The likes of Jamie Roberts, Brian O'Driscoll, Tommy Bowe, Mike Phillips, Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones were key components of that Lions side, and may again be called on in Australia.

Will Scotland wing Tim Visser put his hand up for a Lions Test place?

Only two players - Ireland fly-half Jonathan Sexton and back-row Stephen Ferris - feature in all four of our analysts' selections.

If their predictions prove correct, the Lions Test side is again likely to have a core of Welsh and Irish players as they seek a first series win since 1997.

Neither Jeremy Guscott nor Keith Wood have picked a single Englishman at this stage, while Jonathan Davies has chosen five, and Andy Nicol believes Dutch-born winger Tim Visser could become a Test Lion, with lock Richie Gray the only other Scot selected by any of the quartet.

Will that change as the season goes on?

O'Driscoll and Jones are just two of a long list of potential Lions who are out of action as the autumn Tests kick off.

In their absence, the stage is set for players not necessarily on the radar at present to emerge this autumn as potential Lions.

After each weekend of matches, and again during the 2013 Six Nations, we will highlight an individual or individuals that have enhanced their prospects of Lions recognition.

Our four analysts will then revisit their Test teams at the conclusion of the autumn programme, and again before and after the Six Nations, to see how the likely make-up of the side changes over the course of the season.

What do you make of their initial selections? And which players do you expect to come through? Let the would-be Lions roar.